Birmingham Botanical Gardens, England

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The Birmingham Botanical Gardens are a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

situated in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

, Birmingham, England. The gardens are located south-west of Birmingham city centre at . Designed in 1829, the gardens are Grade II* listed in Historic Englands's

Register of Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England {{R from move ...

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, and retain many original features and layout, which was designed by the landscape gardener and horticulturalist

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1782 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author, born in Cambuslang in 1782. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, co ...

. The site is notable for its range of glasshouses and gardens, which display a wide variety of plants and previously, birds. Birmingham Botanical Gardens is managed by Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society, a registered charity. The gardens are open daily to the public with paid admission.

History

When Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society was formed in 1829, the intention was to develop a botanical garden. The chosen site for Birmingham Botanical Gardens was an 18-acre area of the Calthorpe estate, named Holly Bank Farm. The gardens were designed in 1829 by

, a leading garden planner, horticultural journalist and publisher. The aim was to combine a scientific and ornamental garden and arboretum that would include a nursery and market garden for selling plants, fruits and vegetables to help with the gardens' maintenance costs. Loudon's design for the main conservatory was rejected as too expensive, so it was eventually designed by a local manufacturer. It took three years to plan and construct the site, before it was opened to members of the society on 11 June 1832. Further development and planting continued throughout the decade. Due to rising expenditure, the southern part of the gardens was given up in 1844 and would eventually be used as Westbourne Road Leisure Gardens. The layout of the Botanical Gardens has changed very little since Loudon first designed it. In 1852, the Tropical House was built, to house the tropical water lily, ''

Victoria amazonica ''Victoria amazonica'' is a species of flowering plant, the second largest in the water lily family Nymphaeaceae. It is called Vitória-Régia or Iaupê-Jaçanã ("the Jacanidae, jacana's waterlily") in Brazil and Atun Sisac ("great flower") in ...

''. This was followed by the construction of the Subtropical House in 1871. In 1884, the present-day Terrace glasshouses replaced the original conservatory and lean-to houses. Birmingham Botanical Gardens has played a significant role in the dissemination of Loudon's ideas in terms of planting and garden layout within the Birmingham area. Between 1833 and 1927, the gardens hosted annual exhibitions of exotic plants, fruits and flowers, which raised local horticultural expertise. In 1910 a zoological collection was introduced with the aim of increasing society membership and this included bears, monkeys, seals and alligators. Although the zoological collection was later abandoned, the gardens' collection of birds remained a feature until early 2024. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s a £1.8 million refurbishment of the gardens took place, which involved the introduction of several new buildings and the restoration of the glasshouses. An aviary was constructed in 1995, and housed a variety of birds in four different flights. In 2019, the ''Taking a Stand!'' campaign was announced to restore the octagonal iron bandstand, so it could be used as an all-weather outdoor space for schools and be a platform for music and other events, such as weddings. In April 2021, the bandstand, brought to its 1874 glory, was dedicated as the Peter Sowerby Bandstand, following a donation from the Peter Sowerby Foundation, the bandstand had been redecorated up 18 times in its history. On 10 July 2023, a £13m revamp was announced to restore its four glasshouses under the Growing Our Green Heritage after it was awarded almost £600,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop the first phase of the project to due commence in mid-2025 and be completed in 2028, with a further £4.4m available as the programme progresses. In September 2024, proposals were submitted for the restoration of the botanical gardens' historic glasshouses. In January 2025, the city council of Birmingham, England approved plans to restore the historic glasshouse estate.

Features

Overall, the character of Birmingham Botanical Gardens is that of a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

public park set in of landscaped greenery. The gardens feature four glasshouses, which are tropical, subtropical, Mediterranean and arid glasshouses. There is also an Alpine House and Butterfly House. Running along the south range of glasshouses is the terrace, also known as the Loudon Terrace, which provides views of the Main Lawn, with its range of beds and shrubberies around the perimeter. The Aviary, which was located on the south-east side of the lawn torn down in November 2024, comprised four domed iron flight cages. A sunken Rose Garden can be located on the north side of the now-gone Aviary. A 19th Century Grade II listed, octagonal iron

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

, designed by F.B. Osborn, is situated on the west side of the lawn. At the north-west corner of the lawn stands an octagonal, pierced-work, cast-iron gazebo, which dates to c. 1850 and was moved to the gardens in the mid 1990s. A

Coade stone Coade stone or ''Lithodipyra'' or ''Lithodipra'' () is stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding neoclassical architecture, neoclassical statues, a ...

fountain lies west of the bandstand, which was presented in 1850 and was designed by the Birmingham architect, Charles Edge. From the west side of the Main Lawn, a network of paths wind north and south, giving access to the other main features around the gardens. To the north east lie the Pinetum, Winter Gardens, the West Lawn and the Herbaceous Border. To the south-east is a rock garden and pool, dating to 1895, Rhododendron Walk and the Ernest 'China' Wilson Border. At the southernmost section of the gardens are the Azalea Walk, Fern Walk and Woodland Glade laid out 1862. On the west side of the path looping around the Rhododendron Walk is a Conservation Garden created in 1991. South of this, in the southern corner of the gardens, is the Nursery. At the north-west corner of the gardens, is the Curator's Lodge, built in the 1960s. In 1999, this was extended to become a study centre. South of this, against the east boundary of the gardens, is a series of three period gardens (Roman, Medieval and Tudor), which were created in 1994. Next to the Roman Garden to the south is a waterfowl pool and further south lies a children's playground. A museum is housed in the red-brick, Grade II listed Teulon Cottage, which was designed by

Samuel Sanders Teulon Samuel Sanders Teulon (2 March 1812 – 2 May 1873) was an English Gothic Revival architect, noted for his use of polychrome brickwork and the complex planning of his buildings. Family Teulon was born in 1812 in Greenwich, Kent, the son of a ...

. Near the west boundary is a rock garden, which was constructed in 1895 in memory of Sir Hugh Nettlefold, an important benefactor.

Plants

Birmingham Botanical Gardens contain over 7,000 different plants from around the world. The gardens are home to The British National Bonsai Collection, which opened in 1993 and aims to provide both casual visitors and enthusiasts with a comprehensive display of the variations of species and styles of

bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...

. One of the oldest specimens is the "Omiya tree", a 250-year-old ''

Juniperus chinensis ''Juniperus chinensis'', the Chinese juniper, is a species of plant in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to China, Myanmar, Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East. Growing tall, it is a very variable coniferous evergreen tree or shrub. ...

'' in the informal upright style, presented to the collection in 1995 by the then city of Omiya, Japan. Each of the four glasshouses features a different variety of plants. The tropical glasshouse consists of essential crops, such as rice, cocoa, sugar cane and cotton, as well as ornamental and aquatic plants. The subtropical glasshouse features orchids, ferns and carnivorous plants, such as Venus flytraps. The Mediterranean glasshouse provides visitors with a display of citrus trees and shrubs. The arid glasshouse consists of survivalist plants, such as cacti and aloe vera. There are many unusual and notable plants in the gardens including two fine Himalayan Cedars close to the fountain. These were raised from seeds given to the gardens in the 1840s by James Watt Junior, the son of

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...

whose improvements to the

Newcomen steam engine The atmospheric engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, and is sometimes referred to as the Newcomen fire engine (see below) or Newcomen engine. The engine was operated by condensing steam being drawn into the cylinder, thereby creating ...

were fundamental to the changes brought by the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. A plant found nowhere else is the fern ''Dicksonia'' ×''lathamii'' which is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

between ''

Dicksonia antarctica ''Dicksonia antarctica'', the soft tree fern, Tasmanian Tree Fern or man fern, is a species of evergreen tree fern native to eastern Australia, ranging from south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. Anatomy and ...

'' and '' Dicksonia arborescens'', raised by ex-Curator W. B. Latham more than one hundred years ago.

Birds

The gardens were home to a small collection of exotic birds from around the world including white-cheeked turaco,

Himalayan monal The Himalayan monal (''Lophophorus impejanus''), also called Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of . It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on th ...

azure-winged magpie The azure-winged magpie (''Cyanopica cyanus'') is a bird in the crow family. It is 31–35 cm long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie (''Pica pica'') but is more slender with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It belong ...

s and Quaker parakeets. The majority of the gardens' birds were located in the white-domed aviary building that provided a focal point on the main lawn. The aviary consisted of four distinct sections, three of which represented Asia, Africa and the Americas. The Asian section housed colourful

tragopan ''Tragopan'' is a bird genus in the pheasant family Phasianidae. Member of the genus are commonly called "horned pheasants" because males have two brightly colored, fleshy horns on their head that can be erected during courtship displays. The hab ...

s, the African section was home to different varieties of

lovebird Lovebird is the common name for the genus ''Agapornis'', a small group of parrots in the Old World parrot family Psittaculidae. Of the nine species in the genus, all are native to the African continent, with the grey-headed lovebird being native ...

s, and the American section housed Quaker parakeets. The fourth section consisted of soft-billed birds, such as

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...

s and Mynah birds. The gardens also feature a wetlands enclosure that contains a variety of ornamental waterfowl. The terrace was the location for the gardens’ parrots, including a

sulphur-crested cockatoo The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...

named Jenny that entertained visitors with her chatter, and Lionel, a blue

macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...

. In early 2024, the birds were moved elsewhere and the aviary was demolished in November 2024.

Facilities

Birmingham Botanical Gardens features a gift shop, plant sales centre, tea room, meeting and conference facilities, and five event suites, including the Loudon, Garden and Terrace Suites. There are two playground areas for children, a traditional playground with swings and slide and a children's discovery garden where children can learn about plants through interactive play.

Education

The gardens serve schools, colleges, nurseries and youth groups in the West Midlands and beyond with outdoor educational visits. The education programme includes cross-curricular teaching sessions. Schools are able to use the purpose-built education building called the Study Centre. The Centre also hosts a variety of leisure courses for adults, including photography, nature and heritage courses.

Events

There is an all-year events programme at the gardens that includes activity sessions for youngsters, garden tours, family activities, photography and art classes, theatre, music and falconry.

Notable people

was the gardens' designer. He was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and horticulturalist. * David Cameron (1831-1847) was the gardens' first curator. He was recruited by Loudon and was responsible for implementing Loudon's vision. * William Bradbury Latham (1868-1903) was a distinguished curator of the gardens. He was an orchid and fern specialist and is remembered in the fern garden and Subtropical House where his unique hybrid tree fern ''Dicksonia x lathamii'' still grows more than 140 years after it was bred in 1872. *

Ernest Henry Wilson Ernest Henry "Chinese" Wilson (15 February 1876 – 15 October 1930), better known as E. H. Wilson, was a British plant collector and explorer who introduced a large range of about 2,000 Asian plant species to the Western culture, West; some si ...

(1893-1897) was a trainee botanist at the gardens. He went on to become a notable plant collector. In May 2010, a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

was erected at the gardens, by the

Birmingham Civic Society Birmingham Civic Society is a voluntary body in Birmingham, England, and is registered with the Civic Trust. History The society was founded at an inaugural meeting on 10 June 1918 in the Birmingham Council House. The first president of th ...

, marking his time there. *

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

and

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...

were generous supporters of the gardens. In particular, Joseph donated many rare plants.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Botanical gardens in England Gardens in the West Midlands (county) Grade II* listed parks and gardens in the West Midlands (county) Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, West Midlands Edgbaston